Common Sense Media’s weekly recommendations.

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Ticket to Paradise (PG-13)

Clooney and Roberts elevate cute, booze-filled rom-com.

“Ticket to Paradise” is a banter-filled rom-com starring two of the world’s biggest superstars as ever-sniping divorced parents. David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) fly from Chicago to Bali to stop their daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), from marrying a man she’s just met. There’s a lot of drinking and drunken behavior, with adults drinking at bars, restaurants and parties and on planes — a few times straight from a bottle or while playing a variation of beer pong. While played for laughs, there are consequences to the boozy behavior. There’s also some strong language peppered throughout the dialogue, including at least two uses of “f—,” plus one “f—ing,” “s—,” “b—-,” “a–hole” and more. Mild comic violence includes a poisonous snake bite, a dolphin “attack” and a man accidentally hitting his significant other’s nose. While the movie portrays several aspects of Balinese culture (cuisine, landmarks, wedding rituals), it shouldn’t be confused with a Balinese film: The story’s focus is on the White tourists trying to sabotage their daughter’s wedding. (104 minutes)

Waffles and Mochi’s Restaurant (TV-Y)

Foodie puppets return; same food education and celeb fun.

“Waffles and Mochi’s Restaurant” is a spinoff of Michelle Obama’s original foodie puppet TV show. It has the same great quirky vibe and fun food trivia from the first series, but the episodes have been shortened and simplified to make them even more fun for young kids. Some brands are mentioned when celebrity chefs and food producers talk about themselves, but it’s not gratuitous product placement by any means. Fans of the original “Waffles and Mochi” will still enjoy this deliciously fun show, but “Waffles and Mochi’s Restaurant” is clearly intended to help bring preschoolers along for the ride. (Six 20-minute episodes)

Oni: Thunder God’s Tale (TV-Y7)

Beautiful Japanese mythology series has suspense, fighting.

“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale” is a series based in Japanese mythology. It blends stop-motion and computer-generated graphics to create a visually stunning viewing experience. It addresses important social-emotional skills, like talking about big feelings. This is especially important because the main character, Onari (voiced by Momona Tamada), is still grieving the death of her mother. There’s no strong language, but there are some gross displays like farting and burping in someone else’s face. Expect some suspense, since Onari’s village is preparing for an impending attack, as well as scenes with fighting and bullying. (Four roughly 40-minute episodes)

The School for Good and Evil (PG-13)

Book-based fairy tale fantasy has some scares, language.

“The School for Good and Evil” is a fantasy film based on the popular Y.A. book series. The plot and characters make use of fairy tale devices and play on their cliches. Two young women, bullied in their town for being different, are dragged away to a secret school by a dark spirit and a giant flying creature. There, people are trained to become either good characters or evil ones. Fighting regularly breaks out in scenes that involve swords, punches, fire, scary creatures and other weapons. There are fatalities, and a woman is sent to a “doom room” full of torture implements. Students’ fingers are pierced with a needle to infuse them with magic. Some characters who appear to be killed are brought back to life. People’s eyes glow, and one ages horrifically. Language includes lots of insults, plus “s—,” “a–,” “hell,” “dammit,” and “dang.” A character drinks from a flask and appears drunk. Ultimately, the diverse cast of characters learns that actions speak louder than words and that true goodness is seen in empathy for others. (148 minutes)

Common Sense Media helps families make smart media choices. Go to commonsense.org for age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites and books.

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